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The Squeaky Wheel

Original message posted by "Shelly"   02-27-2008

Has anyone ever had that parent who thinks you should change the whole studio because of one incident? Like the student who goes home crying because she can't get a routine (not because she's in the wrong class but just having a bad week) then the next day the parent calls ranting and raving and insists that the whole class be dumbed down.

I'm usually quite good at explaining the situation and avoiding a conflict but this one Mom is really standing firm and threatening to cause a riot.

Normally I'd say if we can't resolve it then we'll have to part company even though the only one that really loses out is the daughter. However in this case, I'm really concerned about the bad publicity as this Mom has quite a large circle of friends in our local school.

Has anyone had to deal with this and if so what did you do and what was the reaction?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Shelly

Reply posted by "Mat"   02-27-2008

Wow, that's really tough.

Many studio owners I know tend to react too quickly but in a way that affects the whole studio. Implementing new policies and posting notices all over the studio walls.

Whilst it's vital to react quickly, it's often better to talk to the parent and let them do most of the talking. Listen to what they say without jumping in, then when they're finished, follow up with questions rather than solutions or statements. Empathize with them, find out exactly what it is that's upsetting them.

Don't necessarily offer them a solution right there and then but say you'd like to discuss it more. Often just getting the parent to talk about it is enough to calm them down anyway. But basically come up with a number of ways of fixing the problem and determine who will be affected, what reaction you might get from other parents, and whether it's worth the turmoil.

If it aint broke, don't fix it, so unless it's something that will have a positive effect on the whole studio, don't jump too quickly into changing your policies and procedures etc.

Good luck and hope it goes well.

Reply posted by "Shelly"   02-28-2008

Thanks Mat, that's good advice.

You're right about not jumping too quickly and changing the whole curriculum just for one person. I'll see how it goes.

Shelly